President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that the current situation of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is a loss for Turkish democracy and criticized the party's newly elected Istanbul chair for her previous remarks on the grounds of "demeaning the Turkish nation."
Speaking at the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) parliamentary group meeting yesterday, Erdoğan said that CHP's newly elected Istanbul provincial head, Canan Kaftancıoğlu, disrespected the Turkish nation and carried out propaganda in previous posts on her official Twitter account, which he said speak for themselves.
Kaftancıoğlu was elected as the CHP Istanbul provincial chair on Jan. 14, in the congress held at the Bostancı Performance Center.
Commenting Kaftancıoğlu's Twitter posts, Erdoğan said: "She disgraced our nation and history by saying Armenian genocide. She says that the state is not a murderer but a serial killer. She accused the state for those who were killed during terrorist activities. She conducted propaganda in her posts during the Gezi incidents."
An investigation has been launched against Kaftancıoğlu on charges of terrorism propaganda and insulting the president. Kaftancıoğlu's posts have been subject to criticism from many, as Erdoğan said "she openly defamed the people who prevented the July 15 coup attempt." In her post about the people's resistance to the coup attempt, she wrote that this was not the way to defend democracy.
"The main opposition parties play a significant role in democracies. They are sources of hope and security for everyone as they check the ruling party. The objective of politics is not to create problems for society but to solve them. Demeaning the values of the nation is not about politics," Erdoğan said.
The president added that while the AK Party has accelerated its efforts to reach its future goals and bring more services to people, the CHP lags far behind. He also said that his party continues to win elections by increasing its votes.
